Neighborhood Collective Efficacy as a Culturally Responsive Resilience Process: A Longitudinal Study of African American Youth From Fragile Families

A reliance on informal supports and neighborhood relationships has its history within the African American community as a useful strategy for building and maintaining overall resilience. It is known that a history of systemic oppression gave rise to distinct cultural barriers to social services and resources, leading to a reliance on community to help foster success in the African American community. Thus, the notion of neighborhood collective efficacy (NCE) is assumed to be a valuable protective process to explore for African American youth. The current exploratory study utilizes multilevel growth curve modeling to examine the relationship between NCE and aspects of resilience over time. Findings reveal a significant, positive relationship and important implications for culturally responsive study and practice.

Sitting in the Pews: Theological Beliefs and Racial/Ethnic Identity Among African American Adolescents

Church attendance, prayer, and faith practices play a significant role in the life experiences among African Americans, especially youth. Few studies on religious behaviors among African American youth investigate the relationship between theological orientations and racial identity. These orientations include biblical principles, other-worldliness, and social legacy. A total of 187 African American adolescents ( Mage = 15) attending 18 predominantly Black churches in two Midwestern cities participated in the study. Results provided support for two theological orientations that were associated with racial/ethnic identity in distinct ways. More specifically, other-worldliness was linked to more negative feelings about the appearance of African American adolescents and being more likely to endorse negative stereotypes about African Americans. Adolescents who perceived their church as communicating a theology based upon biblical principles reported rejecting negative stereotypes about African Americans. Study findings suggest theological orientations may be associated with shaping racial/ethnic identity attitudes among African American adolescents.

Integrating Underutilized Black Volunteers in 4-H Youth Development Programs

4-H Youth Development prides itself on providing essential resources to reach underserved minority populations. 4-H provides programming and professional development for volunteers to include diverse hands-on training, and cultural competency workshops. This article provides best practices for the inclusion of African American volunteers in 4-H programming efforts that could help extension educators better understand the need to include minority volunteer roles and responsibilities. These strategies include strengthening diverse volunteer make-up, increasing participation and trust among African American youth, and engaging volunteers working in educational organizations that could provide real world experiences for youth.

Exploring the Impact of Skin Tone Perception on Race-Related Outcomes and Familial Functioning Among African American Youth: Implications for African-Centered Interventions

Racism and its ramifications are salient societal-level factors that detrimentally affect African American youth and families. Few studies have investigated how African American youth experience discrimination within families and society and colorism’s impact on racial identity, despite extensive racial discrimination research. We assessed whether the perceptions of African American youth of their skin tone affected their racial identity, familial functioning, and everyday discrimination, using the National Survey of American Life–Adolescent Supplement data. We found no significant relationships among skin tone perception, racial identity, familial functioning, or everyday experiences of discrimination. Conversely, age and gender differences were significant predictors of racial identity, family functioning, and discrimination reports. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings for social work practice.

Bullying Victimization and STIs: Parental Communication and Parental Sexual Communication as Moderators

Purpose: Informed by attachment theory, the current study explores whether the association between bullying victimization and STIs acquisition among African American youth is moderated by general parental communication or parental communication about sex. Method: Data were collected from 546 African American adolescents in four neighborhoods in Chicago’s South Side. Univariate analyses, Spearman’s rank-order correlation analyses, and hierarchical logistic regression analyses were conducted. Results: A positive association between bullying victimization and STIs acquisition was found. General parental communication did not moderate the association between bullying victimization and STIs acquisition. However, parental communication about sex did moderate the association between bullying victimization and youth STIs acquisition. Discussion: The study has important implications for developing interventions to address the adverse consequences of bully victimization that emphasize parental communication about sex as a major component.